Sport goggles, such as are often used for skiing, cycling, snow-boarding, motorcycle and ATV riding, paint-balling, standard-issue, ballistics grade, military goggles used for military ground and other operations, or safety goggles used for medical and other scientific purposes, typically have at least comprised a plastic frame or body and a clear plastic, or polycarbonate, see-through lens. Sometimes the plastic body has further been comprised of an anterior body interconnected to a posterior body, the foremost portion of the anterior body being designed for attachment to, carrying and positioning of the lens a comfortable distance from a user's eyes. The posterior body (referred to herein as a face gasket) has comprised a foam rubber, or softer plastic, interface on the most posterior portion of the body for comfortable positioning of the goggle frame body on the user's face around and defining the field of vision for the user's eyes. Such conventional goggles have further comprised an elongated, elastomeric strap attached at either end thereof to corresponding ends of the anterior body, or alternatively to cantilevered, pivoting or non-pivoting, booms, or outriggers, for the purpose of holding the goggles on the head, or helmet, of the user by stretching the strap around the back of the head, or helmet, with the goggle positioned in opposing fashion on the face of the user. It has generally been accepted and understood among goggle wearers that different colors of lenses have been advantageous for different lighting and weather conditions, and further that differently-shaped and various face gaskets would be advantageous for persons having faces of different sizes and shapes.
The earliest conventional goggles did not provide for interchangeable lenses. This resulted in a less useful goggle, as changing lighting conditions through the day have rendered the goggle, with just one lens option, less suitable for distinguishing variations in terrain. In particular, with snowy terrain, it is often difficult to determine the presence of terrain variations because the snow is all one color: white. Different colors, or different darkness, of interchangeable lenses may have facilitated distinguishing variations in such snowy terrain. Further, where the lens of the goggle has become damaged, or broken, such goggles have also required replacement of the entire goggle.
Further, prior art goggles have not so much provided for interchangeable goggle frames (i.e., an inexpensive, throw-away, or interchangeable, frame), except insofar as interchanging a lens on a goggle frame necessarily entails a new goggle frame and lens combination (by virtue of the fact that the lens has changed—not the frame). This has been, at least in part, because there has not been provided in the past a simple interchangeable face gasket for prior art goggles. The lack of interchangeable goggle frames in the prior art may be seen as primarily a function of relative lower cost of prior art interchangeable replacement lenses relative to prior art goggle frames. Thus, the primary emphasis for interchangeability for prior art goggles has opted for a more expensive goggle frame, or body, with a cheaper, more interchangeable, replacement lens, to enable use of the same goggle frame with different lenses in differing lighting and weather conditions, and for lens repairs.
More recently, conventional goggles have allowed for easy replacement of a damaged or broken lens, or replacement of a lens that is no longer suitable for changed lighting conditions. In such goggles, the body has comprised a somewhat flexible, but resilient, molded material forming a relatively deep vertically-oriented groove, often together with a plurality of notches on the lens matched with inflexible pegs in the groove for alignment and retention purposes. The notches and matched pegs have been designed to receive and hold the peripheral edge of the lens in a vertically-oriented fashion in the groove and to retain the lens in proper orientation on the pegs relative to the body.
When a user has desired to remove such a lens, they have pulled the somewhat flexible goggle body members apart, disconnecting the notches and otherwise disassociating the lens from the pegs and groove in the body. Replacement with a different color lens has involved a reverse process of aligning the edge of the lens, and its notches, with their associated groove and pegs, first fitting an upper, or alternatively lower, portion of the lens into its associated groove and pegs, and then fitting the opposite portion of the lens into its associated groove and pegs. This process has been time-consuming and cumbersome, making it difficult for a user to easily interchange lenses, so much so that many have determined to not make an attempt to change the lens in the open, but rather to use a lens that has provided multi-purpose, though not ideal, use for most lighting conditions. Alternatively, where users have shown the patience necessary to have repeatedly changed lenses, these goggle bodies have lost some resiliency, have broken, or have cracked, due to repeated stressing of the bodies, and this has led to a lack of effective engagement between the lens and the body.
Responsive to the difficulties of interchanging lenses for these types of goggles, there have been developed goggles having articulated frames designed for opening and closing to allow easier changing to lenses adapted for changed conditions. An example of such a frame is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,235, to Runckel, for Ski Goggles With Pivotal Frame Members For Interchanging Lenses. Runckel does not provide for interchangeable face gaskets. U.S. Pat. No. 8,800,067 to Saylor et al., for Eyewear With Interchangeable Lens Mechanism, has facilitated the interchanging of lenses of goggles with a biased outrigger, gate or latch pivotably mounted to the goggle frame, for securing the lens relative to the goggle frame, the lens being further held in a proper orientation by one or more engagement members aligned with an aperture, or apertures, in the lens. The outrigger of Saylor is not known to be for the purpose of securing a stretchy strap to the goggle for holding the goggle on a user's head, with or without a helmet. Saylor does not provide for interchangeable face gaskets.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,410, to Dondero, for Goggle Frame and Attachment System, provides a goggle frame with a removable hinged strap attachment member attached thereto and adapted for enabling easier clearance of the strap around military, motorcycle or snow sports helmets. The hinged strap attachment member of Dondero is not a latch for directly holding the goggle lens on the frame, or for facilitating interchangeability of the Dondero lens. Dondero does not provide for interchangeable face gaskets.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,383, to Cleary et al., for Goggle with Side Arm for Wearing with a Helmet, provides side arms pivotably mounted to the goggle frame thereof for supporting, with a strap, the goggle on a wearer's head, or helmet. Thus, the strap of Cleary et al., is mounted to the pivotable side arms, however, while the arms of Cleary et al. may at best somewhat reinforce the frame of the goggle, to help better retain the lens in the goggle frame, the arms of that device do not comprise a latch for engaging with the lens directly to hold the Cleary et al. lens on the goggle frame. The Cleary et al. goggle does not provide for interchangeable face gaskets.
A goggle provided by Scott Sports, SA, referred to as an LCG goggle, provides a latch mounted on a more traditional goggle frame having an anterior more rigid portion and a posterior more flexible face interface portion, the latch being operable to engage an attachment bracket on the periphery of the back of a goggle lens for holding the lens on the goggle frame. The Scott latch does not interconnect the goggle strap to the goggle body or lens, and the Scott goggle does not provide for interchangeable face gaskets.
Published US Patent Application No. 2009/0151057, to Lebel et al., for Reversible Strap-Mounting Clips for Goggles, provides first and second orientations for helmetless, and helmet, wearing scenarios, respectively, in a goggle that provides electronics for a heated lens or other electronic application. However, the Lebel et al. goggle does not provide a latch for facilitating interchangeable and easily releasable engagement between the Lebel et al. goggle body and lens, and Lebel et al. does not provide for interchangeable face gaskets.
Goggles are known to have become obscured with moisture when temperature and relative humidity conditions inside of the space defined between the goggle body and the user's face and eyes have been such that a dew point has been reached and condensation has formed like a “fog” on the inner surface of the goggle. This typically has happened when a colder inner surface of the goggle lens has come in contact with a now warmer and more humid area enclosed within the goggle body. There are many possible conditions which may lead to fogging of a goggle, since the dew point of the inside of the lens is affected by varying temperature, moisture, pressure and ventilation conditions. One common example of fogging has occurred when a person who has been skiing, cycling, hiking or engaging in other strenuous work or combat-related activity, stops moving as quickly as before, thus reducing the amount of air flow over the surfaces of the goggle such that temperature differentials between the inner surface of the goggle and the now warmed and moist air trapped within the goggle, have caused condensation and fogging of the inner surface of the goggle lens.
Another example of a cause of fogging involves a significant increase in physical exertion and activity which increases the amount of moisture and heat trapped within the goggle. In this scenario, perspiration and a higher incidence of exhaled moist warm air, associated with increased physical exertion, travels into the goggle enclosure. In such a case there has existed a greater imbalance in temperature between the inner surface of the goggle lens and the moist warm air trapped within the goggle, causing condensation and fogging on the inner surface of the lens.
Thus, fogging is a common problem with goggles, and this has occurred in various situations involving temperature extremes, when warmer temperatures caused by perspiration and respiration have entered within the goggle enclosure in a warmer state than relatively colder temperature conditions outside of the goggle body. Of course this problem has ranged from being annoying to the user, to presenting a very dangerous situation where the user's field of vision has been greatly diminished while the user has been traveling at high speeds among fixed obstacles, such as trees, widely varying terrain such as bumps, cliffs, or other participants, or the user has otherwise been unable to clearly see an intended target or an enemy combatant. The problem of fogged goggles has resulted in injury and even death among goggle users.
Responsive to this common, annoying and even dangerous condition, great attention has been paid to solutions to the problem of fogging of goggles. For instance, numerous efforts have been made to increase the amount of passive airflow into the goggle. Examples of such may be found in US Patent Application Serial No. 20050193478 to Hussey, for Goggle Attachment System, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,885 to Masumoto, for Goggles. Another example of passive airflow is found in the Julbo Aerospace goggle, by Julbo SA, which entails a lens able to be pulled out away from the lens frame for enhanced airflow to prevent fogging. None of the foregoing described goggles provides for interchangeable face gaskets.
Despite best efforts to produce a goggle that utilizes passive air-flow means for defogging the lens of the goggle, there are often present conditions which have rendered passive air-flow means of de-fogging ineffective—such as excess exertion causing corresponding body heating and excess humidity and temperature conditions within the goggle. Such conditions have overwhelmed the ability of the passive means to overcome the temperature and humidity differentials presented by exertion by a user in cold, icing conditions or accumulation of snow clogging ventilation means. Also, sometimes a user's clothing, especially such as scarves or face masks, have impeded intended airflow of such goggles, rendering them ineffective.
Another known attempt to resolve goggle fogging problems has included double-pane goggle lenses, such as for example may be found in Published US Patent Application No. US2006/0272078, to Polinelli et al., for Apparatus and Methodology to Mitigate Fogging on Dual Lens Sports Goggle. In addition to venting, Polinelli et al. provides a dual-pane lens assembly having a gasket disposed between the outer and inner lens and forming an air tight space to mitigate against fogging. This type of goggle utilizes the air space between the two goggle lenses to insulate, and therefore prevent, the inner surface of the lens from becoming so cold as to react to form condensate thereon when it comes in contact with the warmer and more moist air in the air space between the user's face and the inner surface of the inner goggle lens. While the presence of a dual-pane lens system in a goggle may help prevent some fogging, it has not been entirely adequate to completely prevent fogging, as is evidenced by ongoing and continued efforts attempting to solve the problem of goggle lens fogging with lens coatings, active technologies such as a fan in a goggle, and heated-lens goggle systems.
Dual-lens goggles to minimize fogging have become very common in the marketplace. But these goggles require additional lens material to manufacture, and thus they are more bulky and more expensive to manufacture. Nevertheless, such goggles have persisted in the marketplace because of their fog fighting properties. If it were possible to have a simpler goggle, perhaps even with a single-pane lens, that was also able to be fog-free under virtually all conditions, it may be preferable to users. This result could obtain because of the simplicity of manufacturing a less bulky, single-pane lens system at a relative cost savings.
There have also been provided goggles, each having an interior fan to ventilate the enclosed space between the goggle inner lens and the user's face, to mitigate the conditions leading to fogging. An example of such a system has been provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,480, to Ryden, for Ski Goggles. One problem of such a device is that it does not necessarily overcome icing, snow accumulation or other blockage of outer goggle vents, thus rendering such a system less effective. Also, the Ryden system does not provide for readily-interchangeable face gaskets.
Regardless of the exact causes of fogging of a goggle in a particular situation, it is understood that sufficient heating of the inner surface of the lens of the goggle comprises an effective means of removing fog from the lens and preventing further fogging. Accordingly, there have been developed various means of actively heating the inner surface of the goggle lens. One such means has comprised the placement of wires, or a resistive film surface, on the inner surface of the goggle lens, which wires or resistive surface have been attached to an electrical power source such as a DC battery carried on the goggle headband or jacket of the user in order to provide sufficient power to heat the lens. Examples of such a method of heating the lens of the goggle have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,929, to Curcio, for Electrically Heated Ski Goggles; U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,533, to McCooeye et al., for Defogging Eye Wear; Published US Patent Application Serial No. US2009/0151057, to Lebel et al., for Reversible Strap-Mounting Clips for Goggles; and Published US Patent Application Serial No. US2013/0091623 A1, to McCulloch et al., for Goggle with Easily Interchangeable Lens that is Adaptable for Heating to Prevent Fogging. None of the foregoing patents or patent applications provide for readily-interchangeable face gaskets.
Thus, prior methods of accomplishing contact between the battery and a lens have been devised such as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,929, to Curcio, for Electrically Heated Ski Goggles; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,533, to McCooeye et al., for Defogging Eye Wear. Curcio discloses a simple, single-point wire contact system between the battery either on the frame or on the belt of a user. A downside of such a system is that the wires are visible, may obstruct vision, and may lead to uneven heating of the entire lens. This inefficiency, in turn, has resulted in wasted energy and corresponding less battery longevity for the system.
McCooeye et al. discloses a heater comprised of a thin layer of chrome, and the contacts are thicker layers of chrome in electrical contact with each other. Of course, the chrome of both the heating element and the bus bars is visible, and this may be undesirable. Further, neither Curcio nor McCooeye provides for readily-interchangeable face gaskets.
Thus, there have been devised various goggle means addressing a desirability for easily interchanging the lens on a sport, a standard-issue military, and/or a medical or a safety goggle, and a desirability for maintaining such a goggle fog free. But there yet exists a need for a sport, standard-issue military, medical or safety goggle that provides a readily-interchangeable face gasket for simple and cost-effective adaptation of the goggle to multiple persons, each having differing facial characteristics, as well as an easily interchangeable lens system, both of which would also preferably be provided with an active, effective means of evenly heating the preferably single-pane lens of such a goggle to prevent fogging. In particular, there exists a need for an efficient and effective means of both releasably attaching the lens of a goggle to its body, and in particular its face gasket, to allow fit for different facial characteristics and different comfort levels and options for sealing the goggle to a user's face. Preferably such a lens and goggle/gasket engagement system may include a simple means for interconnection of the lens to a source for heating of the lens, especially when a less bulky single lens system is employed, such as for example would be advantageous in a tactical goggle, so that the presence of a lens heating system would be especially helpful to prevent fogging. Ideally, such a system would be easy to operate, and would be provided in a goggle that is able to provide even heating to the heated lens in a relatively inexpensive, simple, reliable (defect-free) manufacturing process. Thus, such a goggle would be more affordable and more dependable for sporting, medical, scientific and standard issue military applications.
Electronic components require a moisture-free environment, and moisture needs to be prevented from entering into areas where electronic components and wiring of an electronic device are housed for the device to work reliably over extended periods of time. Access by moisture to electronic components may cause short circuits, it may permanently damage the electronic components, it may corrode electrical components, and it may lead to temporary or total failure of the components and device as well.
In particular, a heretofore unknown problem arises with prevention of water and moisture from entering into goggle electronic components that are adapted for easy interchange of heated lenses, since part of the electronic circuit for such a goggle typically resides on a removable lens, and the other part of the circuit has resided in the goggle body. While a non-interchangeable lens goggle's electronic components may be relatively easily sealed against moisture, a heated-lens goggle adapted for easily interchangeability of the lens presents moisture issues that must be overcome with a novel approach. Thus, interconnecting the two parts, the lens and the body, and detaching the same, in a manner as simply as possible in as few simple steps as possible, has proven challenging to resolve while also providing an installed interconnection that doesn't risk exposure of electronics components of the goggle to moisture and water damage during use of the goggle.
PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US2016/14944, to McCulloch et al., for Goggle With Easily Interchangeable Lens that is Adaptable For Heating to Prevent Fogging, provides an effective system for preventing moisture from entering into the goggle's electronics, but it provides for the electronics and battery for the goggle residing in the goggle body itself. In a goggle involving a smaller profile, such as a tactical goggle with ballistics grade lenses, or a goggle for medical or scientific use, such a smaller body profile prevents retention of a battery of sufficient size to allow heating of the lens for extended periods of time on the goggle body frame itself. Accordingly, a solution for incorporating an external battery into the system with a water-resistant interconnection means is required for such a smaller goggle.
Further, in such a goggle having a smaller profile, there is needed a new and reliable means for integrating the contacts for heating the goggle into a frame member for the lens and for making consistent multi-point contacts with the heating element on the lens for even and consistent heating of the same. As set forth in PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US2016/058,330, to O'Malley et al., for Electrical Interconnection System for Heating Eye-Shield, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,210,737 to Cornelius, for Multiregion Heated Eye Shield, even heating of irregularly-shaped eye-shields has been problematic before the inventions disclosed in those two patent applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,036 to Sperbeck for Goggle Defogging System with Transparent Indium-Tin-Oxide Heating Layer Disposed on a Lens provides recognition of the problem of uneven heating of a thin-filmed heating element on a goggle lens over the bridge of a user's nose, and other areas, and provides that “the ITO coating includes an interior heating zone (33) that is electrically isolated form the edge of the inside layer.” Further, Sperbeck provides, “the region (48) where the bus bars cross the nose area (41) of the goggle lens is isolated from the interior heating zone (33).” Sperbeck further provides: “As a result, the bus bar only contacts the interior heating zone along the top of the goggle lens and along the bottom of the eye regions (37) of the goggle lens located on either side of the nose area (41).” However, Sperbeck does not teach use of a bus bar interconnection system having a channel member or the like specifically for the purpose of allowing partial contact of the bus bar with multi-point contacts at strategic locations for supporting even, or customized, heating of an irregular-shaped eye-shield. Further, Sperbeck does not provide a less-costly-to-manufacture engaging system, wherein a specific heating pattern may be applied to the eye-shield to prevent hot spots or to otherwise provide customized heating. Thus, there is needed a multi-point contact system together with an engagement system for effectively holding the multi-point contact areas of the interconnection system against the bus bar, and while allowing other areas of the heating element to be out of contact with the bus bar.
Rather, the bus bars of Sperbeck make a uniform, smooth-transition path across the path of the lens, and they are not taught to be used in conjunction with a multi-point interconnection system for making electrical contact with only portions of the bus bar. Instead, Sperbeck teaches that “The interior heating zone of the ITO coating can be electrically isolated by scoring a groove around the periphery of the ITO coating. Alternatively, acid etching can be used to remove a peripheral part of the ITO coating.” Sperbeck makes use of a tab 43 and connector 46 for interconnecting the bus bar, leads from the battery, and the ITO on the eye-shield substrate.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/040,683, for Multiregion Heated Eye Shield, to Cornelius, there is provided an anti-fog eye-shield having an apportioned thin resistive-film heater on the eye-shield to enable even heating of the lens, or other custom heating of the lens, for use in an anti-fog goggle, an anti-fog dive mask or other portable transparent anti-fog eye-protecting shield. In that application, there is taught apportioning of the heater on the eye-shield with either a split bus bar for each apportioned heating area, or a single bus bar for multiple apportioned heating areas. Cornelius does not teach an altered-structure, or altered-configuration, multi-point contact interconnection system for holding only multi-point contact portions of the goggle interconnection contact system against the bus bar, while allowing other portions of the bus bar, and/or the heating element, to be out of contact with the multi-point contact interconnection system. Such a system would allow for strategically-located application of power to the bus bar to prevent hot spots, or to otherwise provide customized heating.
Accordingly, there is also needed in a goggle with a lens and readily-interchangeable face gasket engagement system, a means of effectively securing consistent, reliable and durable electrical contact between the heating element of the goggle system and the battery power source for the goggle system.